Bhagat Namdev Ji
"In the imperishable realm of the Formless Lord, I play the flute of the unstruck sound current."
God's
name was always on the lips of
Bhagat Namdev Ji. He was asked by
the king
to show miracles. Bhagat Namdev Ji
refused to do so and was thrown
before
a drunk elephant to be crushed to
death. God saved His own saint.
Bhagat
Namdev Ji spent the last day of
his life in village Guman, now in
district
Gurdaspur, Punjab (India).
Guru Granth Sahib recognizes many saints of the Bhakti movement of medieval India. Namdev are the saints belonging to this movement which swept across the North India from 1100 A.D. till 1600 A.D. When Fifth Guru Guru Arjan dev ji compiled Guru Granth Sahib, he decided to give some recognition to the saints of Bhakti movement, that is the reason that Guru Granth Sahib contains verses of such saints. In some cases Guru Granth Sahib is the only voice remained for such saints over the years.
According to the generally accepted version of the current traditions, Namdev was born in AD 1270 to Damasheti, a low-caste tailor, and his wife, Gonabai, in the village of Naras-Vamani, in Satara district of Maharashtra. Janabai, the family's maidservant and a bhakta and poetess in her own right, records the tradition that Namdev was born to Gonabai as a result of her worship of Vitthala in Pandharpur. Namdev was married before he was eleven years of age to Rajabal, daughter of Govinda sheti Sadavarte. He had four sons and one daughter, Under the influence of saint Jnanadeva, Namdev was converted to the path of bhakti. Vitthala of Pandharpur was now the object of his devotion and he spent much of his time in worship and kirtan, chanting mostly verses of his own composition.
In the company of Jnanadeva and other saints, he roamed about the country and later came to the Punjab where he is said to have lived for more than twenty years at Ghuman, in Gurdaspur district, where a temple in the form of samadh still preserves his memory. This temple was constructed by Sardar Jassa Singh Ramgarhia and the tank by its side was got repaired by Rani Sada Kaur , mother-in-law of Maharaja Ranjit Singh . In his early fifties, Namdev settled down at Pandharpur where he gathered around himself a group of devotees. His abhangas or devotional lyrics became very popular, and people thronged to listen to his kirtan. Namdev's songs have been collected in Namdevachi Gatha which also includes the long autobiographical poem Tirathavah. His Hindi verse and his extended visit to the Punjab carried his fame far beyond the borders of Maharashtra. Sixty-one of his hymns in fact came to be included in Sikh Scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib. These hymns or sabdas share the common characteristic of lauding the One Supreme God distinct from his earlier verse which carries traces of idolatry and saguna bhakti. In the course of his spiritual quest, Namdev had, from being a worshipper of the Divine in the concrete form, become a devotee of the attributeless ( nirguna) Absolute.
Bhagat Nam Dev is a pioneer of the
Radical bhakti School. Though he
appeared a century earlier than
Kabir, his religious and social
views
are very much like those of Kabir.
He unambiguously repudiates all
the
four fundamentals of Vaisnavism.
Though in his devotional approach,
he
is clearly a monotheist, he makes
many pantheistic statements too,
e.g.,
every thing is God; there is
nothing but God; consider the
world and God
to be one; the foam and the water
are not different. Chaturvedi
writes:
"Sant Nam Dev seemed to
believe both in transcendence and
immanence,
in pantheism and nondualism. His
devotion was purely of the
non-attributional
absolute. He also considers God to
be immanent, everywhere, in all
hearts,
and the Creator of everything.
Like Kabir and the Sufis, Namdev
is very
other worldly. He says, "The
strength of contempt of the world
should
be in the body an unchanging
companion. One should lay aside
differences
between oneself and others, and
feel no anxiety for things of the
world."Ranade
also writes: "He (Nam Dev)
tells us that it is impossible
that the
pursuit of God can be coupled with
a life of Samsara. If it had been
possible
for a man to find God while he was
pursuing Samsara, then Sanaka and
others
would not have grown mad after
God. If it had been possible for
him to
see God while carrying on the
duties of a householder, the great
Suka
would not have gone to the forest
to seek God. Had it been possible
for
people to find God in their homes,
they would not have left them to
fond
out. Nam Dev has left all these
things, and is approaching God in
utter
submission (Abhg. 83).
NamDev's cosmogenic views are also orthodox. He says that God created maya and "maya is the name of the power that placeth man in the womb."Indirectly, he is neither happy with the world, nor with the human birth. Him, shop, shopkeeper, men and everything are unreal excepting God. In this background he seeks release from the world and suggests renunciation: " Namdev gave up trade, and devoted himself exclusively to the worship of God.
The world being a play of maya and not being a worthwhile of spiritual endeavours, Namdev's goal is to have union with God through devotion and singing. His praises. He says, "I perform worship, sing God's praises and meditate on Him for eight pahar in a day i.e, round the clock. At the same time, he suggests good conduct and purity of life. For, God created all men alike. Though he holds every person responsible lor his acts, he clearly does not believe in a world rigidly governed by karma. 13ecause he says: If everything were determined by karma, who created karma originally?
NamDev not only claims union with
God, but, like Kabir, also states
that more than once God
miraculously intervened on his
behalf to reveal
Himself to him, or help him.
Without doubt, Nam Dev's approach
remains
otherworldly both before and after
his achievement. At one time, he
even
gave up work so as to remain
absorbed in his worship and
meditations.
He never initiated any religious
institution or movement. His was a
solitary
search for God, without creating
any social or religious
organisation.
We find that in his repudiation of
Vaisnava doctrines, in his
metaphysical
ideas, methodology and goal, and
more particularly in his
otherworldly
approach to the world and society,
Namdev's views are quite identical
with those of Kabir.
Shabad by Bhagat Nam Dev in the Siri Guru Granth Sahib where the temple rotated towards his direction as he was not allowed to sit in there.
Laughing and playing, I came to Your Temple, O Lord.
While Naam Dayv was worshipping, he was grabbed and driven out. || 1 ||
I am of a low social class, O Lord;
why was I born into a family of fabric dyers? || 1 || Pause ||
I picked up my blanket and went back, to sit behind the temple. || 2 ||
As Naam Dayv uttered the Glorious Praises of the Lord,
the temple turned around to face the Lord’s humble devotee. || 3 || 6 |
Shabad by Bhagat Nam Dev in the Siri Guru Granth Sahib on how he had the darshan of the Lord.
Nam Dev milked the brown cow,
and brought a cup of milk and a jug of water to his family god. || 1 ||
Please drink this milk, O my Sovereign Lord God. Drink this milk and my mind will be happy.
Otherwise, my father will be angry with me. || 1 || Pause ||
Taking the golden cup, Nam Dev filled it with the ambrosial milk,
and placed it before the Lord. || 2 ||
The Lord looked upon Nam Dev and smiled.
This one devotee abides within my heart. || 3 ||
The Lord drank the milk, and the devotee returned home.
Thus did Nam Dev come to receive the Blessed Vision of the Lord’s Darshan. || 4 || 3 ||
Extracted from
Gurbani De Racheta by S Abnashi
Singh
and Gurvinder Singh.
Published by: Gaganmai Thaal
International,Jandiala
Guru,Amritsar